Gov. Walz’s Debate Performance Was Utterly Shameful

Senator J.D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz squared off last night in the 2024 vice presidential debate (with CBS News moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan). And Walz’s debate performance was utterly shameful – I’ll explain more in just a bit.

For starters, last night’s matchup was probably the last debate we’ll see before Election Day. And for most Americans, it was likely their first chance to see either Vance or Walz in such a setting.

Overall, it was one of the more cordial debates we’ve seen in recent years. Both candidates shook hands and had genuine moments of civility with each other, even pointing out areas in which they share common ground.

However, unsurprisingly, the moderators inserted themselves into the debate by fact-checking Vance’s claims about illegal immigration in Springfield, Ohio. This led to a tempestuous moment of Vance calling out the moderators, Brennan sarcastically thanking him for explaining the legal process, and then Vance’s mic getting cut off. Why do the moderators save most of their nastiness for the conservative candidates in debates?

That being said, one of the few times the moderators pushed back on Walz was over his recent claims about being at the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. The moderators asked Walz to clarify his initial response (that he often “gets caught up in the rhetoric”). After being caught in the lie, Walz then froze, saying that he “misspoke” about being at the protests.

It’s utterly shameful that Walz keeps lying about his past. His lies are easily refuted, which destroys his credibility. This gaffe recalls how he recently attributed lies about his military record to bad “grammar.”

Another major blunder was Walz’s assertion, “I’ve become friends with school shooters.” After the debate, while at a local pizza joint, Walz had the chance to walk back the statement but ignored it entirely. Many are arguing that Walz just stuck his foot in his mouth during this segment. Yet ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell interpreted it a bit differently:

[Walz] has this incredible inability to see crime and punishment the way the rest of us do. . . . But I think he realized when he says, I’ve become friends with school shooters, and I’m sympathetic to their being bullied . . . there’s a chance that he is trying to say, it’s not the fault of individuals who find themselves in a mess – that it is the gun. I believe that he is focused on . . . the gun, and someone who becomes mentally ill is going to lash out. And so, therefore, you’ve got to get rid of guns because it’s inevitable that . . . troubled kids are going to be troubled. And so, therefore, we should not have any access to guns. I actually believe that that’s his line of thinking, and it’s a terrible excuse to say, Because [some] people have mental illness, somehow, you’ve got to take away [everyone’s] guns.

A final shameful moment was when Walz dodged questions about Minnesota’s radical abortion laws. O’Donnell questioned if Walz supported abortion for up to nine months, and the Governor danced around the issue.

Vance pushed back, and Walz accused him of “trying to distort the way the [abortion] law is written.” Walz also referenced how the moderators at the 2024 presidential debate fact-checked President Trump’s claims about the far Let’s support of infanticide (which, in actuality, the moderators spread more falsehoods about abortion).

The truth is seven states have zero restrictions on the gestational age of a baby to be aborted, meaning abortion is legal up until the moment a child is born. Minnesota is one such state, and Walz signed legislation saying the state can’t interfere with abortion.

The ACLJ knows about this issue firsthand because we fought against legalizing infanticide in the perinatal stage, which is up to 28 days after birth. The ACLJ also just filed at the U.S. Supreme Court a vital filing to defund Planned Parenthood. You can join our legal efforts at the Supreme Court by signing our petition.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of Governor Walz’s shameful performance at last night’s vice presidential debate. Also, ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs Mike Pompeo contrasted the ongoing unrest in the Middle East with President Trump’s achieving peace in the region.

Watch the full broadcast below: